chemotherapy
March 10, 2012
Why I don’t Seem Sick!
One week before I began chemo a dear friend, who happens to be an RN and shares my faith, insisted she come over with something for me. “You have to take this,” she said, “I’m giving you this box of product, and you must take it.” Anyone on the cancer circuit knows that loved ones come out of the woodwork with cures and remedies that you “must try”. We also know in a very short amount of time we begin to filter out almost all suggestions that aren’t coming from our primary care takers (whether they be alternative or conventional). So when my friend, who holds clout on the conventional route that I’m on, because of her nursing background and her unfortunate familiarity with cancer (she has lost almost her entire immediate family) showed up insisting I take this product, I complied.
March 4, 2012
Preparing for Poison
Tomorrow I go in for treatment number four (I have begun counting down), next will be three etc. I have to be very careful when I think/talk about my chemo as it can make me sick simply by bringing it up (that is evidently very normal). I’ve got a bit of a routine going, and thus far I’ve opted to go alone. Lots of people have offered to come but it’s truly dismal so I’ve rejected the offers. I also like the freedom of the morning as I have over two hours to kill between my blood work and the actual treatment (which takes over three hours). That’s my last two hours of feeling well for a week or so.
February 4, 2012
Attitude Transformation
Mind over matter is my new MO. So far it’s working. The power of the mind was very evident the last Tuesday when I went in for chemo; I almost got sick right in the waiting room. I told the psychiatric nurse, who told me many people vomit when they get in the building and one patient did it when they saw the building from down the street. I knew I wasn't sick from the chemo, as I hadn't had it in a month, so I learned how powerful my mind is. That being said, I developed a new mindset after I got my second opinion, I am on board with my last six treatments. If I must go to bed after chemo I will, but I will no longer assume I must rest! When I was little we were literally not allowed to get sick, “Sorry we don’t have time,” my mom constantly told us, and it worked!
January 12, 2012
Not What I Hoped
Here’s what I had hoped to get from my second opinion, “After getting to know you, and factoring into account the measures you are taking to implement a healthy lifestyle, I can see that this chemo regimen is appropriate for most people, but is overkill for you. I think you should celebrate what you’ve done thus far, make an appointment with your surgeon to get your ostomy reversed and get back to life.” The reality was she spent over an hour with us, sincerely listened, and handed me a box of tissues, as I cried when she concurred with the previously prescribed protocol. She agreed that I should go ahead with the next seven rounds of chemo.
January 6, 2012
Seeking a Path That Works for Me
As a woman whose heart is passionate about alternative medicine I am keenly in tune with my body. I know when I have a germ, and I take the appropriate measures like sleep, going to the chiropractor, drinking extra water, laying off sugar, using essential oils or an oral remedy; 99% of the time I stay healthy. The majority of society is different, they wait until something knocks them out, causing them to stop, before they address the needs of their bodies and then end up doing what they know best, going to the doctor’s office and getting drugs. My family has been free of antibiotics for years, that’s amazing since we have four kids; our pediatrician barely knows us. We show up for sport physicals and the nurses see we haven’t been in a year and wonder if we are really patients; no one ever stops to ask what we do differently. So few people take the time, energy and effort to care for the needs of their bodies that serve them so well. I love to call myself a Born-Again-Chri
December 31, 2011
God Help Me!
If you are close to me, you are all too familiar with the sight and sounds of my tears this week. I hate chemo! I am literally horrified that I have seven more treatments to go. I cried my way to the hospital Tuesday and have sustained the waterworks every day since. What a contrast from Monday, I was whizzing down a zip line, screaming at the top of my lungs as the thrill of the ride sent me worlds away from everything else I know. There I was flying through the Pennsylvania sky, high above the beauty of the earth, securely cradled in a harness, I couldn’t have asked for more. However, it was like slamming into a brick wall the next morning when we returned from our mini vacation and I was expected at Johns Hopkins for my biweekly dose of poison.
